Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation
Birth of the Federation is a turn based video game where the player takes control of either the United Federation of Planets, The Klingon Empire, The Romulan Star Empire, The Ferengi Alliance or the Cardassian Union in building a galactic empire. Players can colonize systems, conquer or ally minor alien races, construct star fleets and go to war with the other galactic powers. The game includes many canon and non-canon starship classes for all five races. The game includes two game modes, domination, in which the player must conquer a portion of the galaxy, and vendetta, where the player must destroy their empire's two racial enemies. Game Description Single Player In the single player game, the player chooses one of five empires included in the game. The empires then take turns moving ships, engaging in diplomacy, research, building and intelligence operations, and fighting. The single player game has two different victory modes. In a domination game, the player must control 60% of the galaxy. If the player allies themselves with another empire, the two empires combined must control 75% of the galaxy. In vendetta mode the player must destroy their empire's two racial enemies before the player is destroyed by one of their own enemies. The vendettas are all mutual. The vendetta pairings are: *Federation: Romulans, Cardassians *Klingons: Cardassians, Ferengi *Romulans: Federation, Ferengi *Ferengi: Romulans, Klingons *Cardassians: Federation, Klingons The game is divided into two parts, a galactic management mode, and a tactical combat mode. In the management mode, the game screen represents a map of the galaxy. The map is divided into sectors, some of which contain systems or stellar phenomena and others which are empty This is where you build, colonize, allocate research, engage in diplomacy and intelligence and move your ships. If starships from two neutral or hostile empires occupy the same sector at the beginning of any your turn, a dialouge box appears asking for your response. The player can choose to retreat or hail in an attempt to avoid combat, or they can attack. If you choose to attack then the tactical combat mode appears. When this happens, a 3D representation of the sector appears. The player then takes a turn to give his ships orders then the ships carry those orders out. If any ships survive the first turn, then the process repeats until there is a victor. Multi-player Multi-player is the same as single player with the exception that one or more of the other empires is controlled by another player. Multi-player also includes a third game mode called team play. In team play, the empires are placed on teams before the game starts and a team must control 75% of the galaxy, or eradicate the other empires to win. Empires (Descriptions are quoted from the game manual) United Federation of Planets Founded in 2161, the United Federation of Planets is an alliance of several planets dedicated to peace and scientific exploration. It is governed by the Federation Council, which in turn, is lead by the Council President. The Federation's organization for interstellar exploration and defense is Starfleet Command. Starfleet's mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, is balanced by its Prime Directive: to not interfere in the natural development of any unaligned race. As a result, first contact with other races is very important to the Federation. For every successful first contact, such as Zephram Cochrane's peaceful meeting with the Vulcans, there has been a dangerous encounter, such as the one with the Klingon Empire. The Federation is also known for its history of able diplomacy. Through the Khitomer Peace Accords of 2293, the Federation founded a friendship with their former adversary, the Klingons. Likewise, the Federation has used diplomacy to rein in the the Romulan Star Empire and Cardassian Union by creating buffer zones between their territories and the Federation's. This reputation for diplomacy is the Federation's most significant gameplay advantage. In diplomacy, the Federation's credits are extremely effective in establishing treaties. Minor races show more sympathy towards the Federation than other empires. In combat, the Federation also has an advantage with strong shields and hulls, and it recieves a large bonus for liberating inhabited solar systems. Klingon Empire By killing Molor the Tyrant circa 600 A.D. and defeating the Fek'lhri, Kahless the Unforgettable united his fellow Klingons with his acts of honor and courage. Even now, a clone of Kahless still serves as an inspirational Emperor of the Klingons, although the government is actually lead by the Chancellor, who oversees the Klingon High Council from the Klingon homeworld, Qo'noS. Forged in war, the Klingon Empire has continued to temper itself through conflict. For Klingons, strength and honor in battle is all. Some opponents they recognize as honorable, others they consider treacherous. Respect for an enemy's strength can lead the Klingons to forge a needed alliance. Sometimes the Klingons fight old allies. Former allies with the Klingons, the Romulans struck at Klingon outposts in 2344 and 2346, respectively. Such situations reinforce the Klingon's belief that the future of their empire rests on battle readiness. This readiness for battle at any moment is its main gameplay advantage. The Klingon Empire is quite effective in ground combat. Klingon Colony and Troop Transport starships, unlike those of other empires, are armed for space battle. Their Birds of Prey starships can cloak. Romulan Star Empire To understand the Romulans, one must look to the planet Vulcan. In the first century A.D., the Vulcans suffered a series of horrible wars due to their violent and passionate natures. Then came the Time of Awakening, when Surak taught his people the strength of logic and the peace that came with it. Those Vulcans who rejected Surak's teachings left their homeworld for the planets of Romulus and Remus, founding the Romulan Star Empire. Now the Romulans are governed by a ruler known as the Praetor, who is supported by the Imperial Senate, a parliament led by the Proconsul. The Romulans' military intelligence agency, the Tal Shiar, not only spies on their enemies but also on its own citizens for signs of betrayal. In playing the Romulans, take advantage of their covert means at undermining their foes. The Romulans secretly helped foster the Klingon Civil War of 2367, attempted a clandestine takeover of Vulcan in 2368, and have highly placed spies, such as Federation ambassador T'Pel. To other races, the Romulans prefer to remain a mystery. In their first battle with Earth in 2160, the Romulans kept their appearance hidden from their enemies. By 2266, the Romulans had developed a cloaking device that rendered their starships invisible to enemy sensors. Nevertheless, the Romulans have entered into military alliances with the Klingons and with the Cardassians when these empires have shared common foes. The Romulan's reliance upon their military intelligence and their desire to remain enigmatic serve as their major gameplay advantages. By building special structures, they have effective intelligence operations. Their starships, with the exception of Colony and Troop Transports, can cloak and have efficient targeting systems with powerful plasma torpedoes. Ferengi Alliance Ferengi personal conduct is influenced by the 285 Rules of Acquisition, first of which is, "Once you have their money, you never give it back." These rules were formulated by Gint, who led the Ferengi as the first Grand Nagus nearly 10,000 years ago. The current Grand Nagus oversees the Alliance from the homeworld of Ferenginar. By the time a race has encountered them, the Ferengi have already established a financial foothold into that race's territory. Although the Federation did not meet the Ferengi until 2364, the Ferengi had been salvaging Federation property since 2355. The Ferengi like to deal with those races that are unfamiliar with their reputation for greed. First contacts are excellent opportunities to increase their profit by making deals that are favorable to themselves. Since they prefer the acquisition of financial power rather than that of political or military power, it is easy to underestimate the Ferengi. This focus upon economic interests gives the Ferengi certain gameplay advantages. They can establish trade routes without treaties and build structures that boost their income. Another advantage is that Ferengi starships have strong shields and carry several torpedoes. Cardassian Union The Cardassian Union was formed by the civilian Detapa Council 300 years before the Federation came into existence. With the Detapa Council controlling both the military units of the Central Command and the spy network of the Obsidian Order, the Cardassian Union grew strong by gaining territory and technology through war, at the price of several million deaths. Given that before the Union, millions of Cardassians had died due to plague and famine, success through such brutal means seemed to cost no more than life before wars. The Cardassian people, however, were once a spiritual culture, deeply interested in peace. Now that spiritual past is no longer acknowledged in a society that focuses on the military order, discipline and conquest. Races, such as the Bajorans, who are conquered by the Cardassians find their worlds strip-mined of all resources in order to support the Union. These actions are seen as acceptable, even efficient, by the Cardassians. This military efficiency is a gameplay advantage, with their ability to rule other races best through subjugation by constructing special structures. The Cardassians gain a great deal of productivity that other races are unable to do to races they have subjugated. They are also efficient in intelligence operations through the development of structures, and their starships have extremely powerful beam weapons and strong hulls. Starship Types Scout Scout ships are long range vessels that are used primarily for exploration. They have longer range sensors than other types of starships which allow the scout to chart sectors adjacent to it, not just the sector that the vessel is in. In combat a scoutship provides detailed information about enemy vessels. The Romulan D'renet class scout can cloak. All scoutships have an upgraded version with more powerful shields, weapons and engines. The upgraded Klingon B'rel class scout can cloak. Destroyer Destroyers are light starships that serve as escorts and commerce raiders. They have medium range and tend to be faster than other types of ships both in and out of combat. The Federation and the Ferengi both have heavy destroyers which combine speed with more powerful weaponry. The Romulan D'ridren class destroyer can cloak. All destroyers have an upgraded version with the exception of the Federation Defiant class. Warship A warship is a general combat starship that doesn't fit into any of the other vessel catagories. These ships usually make up the backbone of fleets and are generally well rounded combatants. They are slower than destroyers but compensate by providing more weapons. All warships are medium range vessels. Most races have more than one warship class, a lighter, faster, cheaper warship (Federation Ambassador class) and a larger, slower, more expensive heavy warship (Federation Galaxy-X class). The Ferengi don't have a second warship class. Instead they have the Tokorn class heavy raider, which contains some of the best features of both warship and destroyer type vessels. Both the Romulan R'derex class cruiser and the D'dredar class Battle Cruiser can cloak. All warship type ships have an upgraded version. The upgraded Klingon K'vort class Bird of Prey can cloak. Strike Cruiser The strike cruiser carries less beam weapons than warships in exchange for a large and powerful torpedo loadout. These ships excel at assaulting systems but are usually outgunned if they have to engage in close range combat. Strike cruisers are slow and cumbersome in and out of battle. They all are short range ships. The Romulan R'tan class starship can cloak. All strike cruisers have an upgraded version that is faster, more powerful and better able to fight in close range combat. An empire's upgraded strike cruiser is arguably their most powerful ship in the game. Command Cruiser Command cruisers are the most well known class of starship. In the game they are meant to lead fleets into battle. In battle they allow the targeting of individual enemy ships rather than types of enemy ships. In battle command cruisers are heavily armed and shielded, but slow and unwieldy. They are generally more powerful than light warships, but less powerful than heavy warships. Outside of battle, all command cruisers are short range. The Federation is the only empire that fields a heavy command cruiser. The Romulan D'deridex class Warbird can cloak. All command cruisers have an upgraded version that is faster and more powerful. Colony ship Colony ships terraform and colonize uninhabited planets. They work faster in groups although you only loose one ship from a group when you colonize a system. They are slow and cumbersome in battle, but are medium range ships out of battle. The Klingon LI'w'I class Colony ship is armed and can defend itself in battle, although it can't defeat a combat ship on its own. Romulan D'retex class Colony ships can not cloak. All colony ships have an upgraded version that are faster, better shielded and terraform more quickly. Troop Transports Troop Transports are used to capture enemy worlds, build outposts and upgrade outposts to starbases. They work more effectively in groups although you only loose one transport if you capture a planet or build an outpost. Troop transports have a ground combat strength that depends on the race of the transport. The Klingon Chowghwl' class Transport is armed. The Romulan R'daran class Transport can't cloak. All Transports have an upgraded version that has a higher ground combat strength, is faster, better shielded and can build more quickly. Starship Classes x=non-canon Federation Ships *Scout: Oberth class *Destroyer: Miranda class *Heavy Destroyer: Constellation class *Heavy Escort: Defiant class *Light Cruiser: Ambassador class *Strike Cruiser: Nebula class *Command Cruiser: Galaxy class *Dreadnought: Sovereign class *Heavy Cruiser: Galaxy-X class *Colony Ship: Edward class (x) *Troop Transport: London class (x) Klingon Ships *Scout: B'rel class *Destroyer: May'Duj class (D7 class) *Battle Cruiser: K't'inga class *Strike Cruiser: Negh'var class *Attack Cruiser: Vor'cha class (Note: in the game, the ship is classified as a 'Battleship') *Heavy Cruiser: K'vort class *Colony Ship: LI'w'I' class (x) *Troop Transport: ChowghwI' class (x) Romulan Ships *Scout: D'renet class (Romulan scoutship) *Destroyer: D'ridren class (Romulan scoutship) *Cruiser: R'derex class (x) *Strike Cruiser: R'tan class (x) *Warbird: D'deridex class (Note: in the game, the ship is classified as a 'Battleship') *Battle Cruiser: D'dredar class (x) *Colony Ship: D'retex class (x) *Troop Transport: R'daran class (x) Ferengi Ships *Scout: Bronta class (x) *Light Raider: Ngort class (x) *Raider: Tokorn class (x) *War Cruiser: Goront class (x) *Strike Cruiser: Ooron class (x) *Marauder: D'kora class (Note: in the game, the ship is classified as a 'Battleship') *Colony Ship: Tomax class (x) *Troop Transport: Glantor class (x) Cardassian Ships *Scout: Nerok class (x) *Destroyer: Netel class (x) *Cruiser: Neterok class (x) *Strike Cruiser: Keldon class *Battleship: Galor class *Heavy Cruiser: Telok class (x) *Colony Ship: Ranol class (x) *Troop Transport: Toran class (x) de:Star Trek: Birth of the Federation Birth of the Federation Minor race ships and Space-dwelling Lifeforms *Acamarian raider (destroyer/raider) *Bajoran fighter (destroyer/raider) *Borg Cube *Calamarain (gaseous space-dwelling lifeform) *Crystal Entity (crystalline space-dwelling lifeform) *Edo Guardian (Edo God) *Gomtuu (sentient starship aka 'Tinman') *Echo Papa 609 (Minosian combat drone) *Ktarian raider (destroyer/raider) *Pakled transport (command) *Sheliak raider (destroyer/raider) *Talarian warship (command) *Tamarian defender (command) *Trill warship (command) *Vulcan ship (destroyer/raider) *Yridian scout (can cloak)